Labor publications have come and gone over the course of the last century, reflecting the ups and downs of an ever-changing economy.

This month, The Building Tradesman begins its 50th year of publication. Not a bad run compared to some publications that date back two centuries, terrific when you consider the track record of labor union papers that have started up and have run out of gas over the years.

The Building Tradesman has managed to survive our state's economic peaks and valleys to give Michigan's unionized construction workers a unique voice in the industry. Unique because there is virtually no other publication that has been doing what we've been doing, as well, or as long, as we have.

I talked to a public relations representative from the AFL-CIO Building Trades Department a couple years ago, and told him that besides our paper, I had only seen two other building trades union publications come across my desk during my 11-year stint at the Tradesman. One based in San Francisco; the other in Minnesota. "That's about right," he said, "as far as I know, you guys are about it."

If you think the construction industry is cyclical, consider the business of public relations publications. They're nearly always the first target in an organization when it comes to cutbacks following an economic downturn. But somehow, in Detroit and Michigan, union leaders have been doggedly determined to keep the Tradesman in business.

There have been cutbacks - the most serious of which came in 1992, when the weekly paper was reduced to being published on a bi-weekly basis. But even in the depths of serious financial difficulties, union members and leaders have appreciated and supported the voice provided by the paper.

This paper was planted and took root thanks to the foresight of The Greater Detroit Building and Construction Trades Council. The paper has always been the council's official publication, and we also provide space for our 45 subscribing local unions to place articles of interest to their membership.

At last count, our subscriber count was 46,424 - many of them construction workers who live and work outside of the Detroit area. We attempt to make the content of the paper reflect the statewide readership of the Tradesman. In fact, we also serve as the official publication of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council.

We think we're doing something right. In 1997, The Building Tradesman won two first-place awards in the annual International Labor Communications Association (ILCA) awards contest for "Best Front Page" and the top spot in "Labor History, Best Use of Graphics" categories, competing with 1,682 entries submitted by 167 member publications nationwide.

Judges commented, "Perhaps the best traditional newspaper front page format in the labor movement, The Building Tradesman has evolved over the years into a lively dispenser of labor and industry news…."

In the first edition of The Building Tradesman, published Friday, Jan. 11, 1952, Building Trades Department President Richard J. Gray wrote, "to us as union building tradesmen it is doubly important that our story be told - it is folly to expect our daily newspapers owned by anti-labor big business enterprises to put our views before the public."

This paper has indeed evolved over the years, but its basic mission hasn't changed. Local unions use their space to bring information to their membership, and we use our space to inform, occasionally amuse, and otherwise benefit our "Hardhats."

If you have been around for all or part of the last 50 years, we hope you have enjoyed the paper, and we look forward to serving you in the new Millenium.